Hey! Ho! Let’s Go! The Ramones Released the Album That Changed Rock Music 50 Years Ago Today

On this day (April 23) in 1976, The Ramones released their self-titled debut album. More than their debut, it is widely considered the first punk rock album. The album didn’t perform well. Despite that, though, it became an incredibly influential release. Clocking in at just under 30 minutes, the 12-track collection set off an explosion in the ever-changing music world of the 1970s. Shockwaves from that explosion can still be felt across multiple genres.

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The lineage of punk rock doesn’t begin with The Ramones. The genre’s DNA can be traced back to the early 1960s with bands like the Sonics and Sam Sham & the Pharohs. Then, there were MC5, the Stooges, Television, and other acts that were pushing the boundaries of rock and roll before the four-piece from Queens, New York, started making music.

Their sound shows elements from that deep pool of influences, along with 1950s girl groups, doo-wop, and the Beach Boys. So, the band didn’t come out of nowhere. They were, however, the next step in the evolution of music.

Ramones Was a Reaction

The Ramones’ sound wasn’t just a long list of influences focused through an angry teenage lens. It was a middle finger to the current state of rock and roll. Some of the most celebrated rock albums of the mid-1970s came from the likes of Steely Dan, Supertramp, Led Zeppelin, and Queen. While great in their own right, these acts didn’t speak to Joey, Tommy, Johnny, and Dee Dee.

As Dr. Donna Gaines points out in her essay on the band for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they believed rock music had lost the plot. In the early days of the genre, it was aimed at a rebellious teen audience. That changed over the years. Somewhere along the way, bands began focusing on making music for an older audience. As a result, the music had lost its youthful edge and angst. More importantly, it just wasn’t as fun anymore. The Ramones were out to change that.

So, they took tunes that spoke to the youth in the years before–bubblegum pop, doo-wop, and surf music–and distilled them with hardscrabble minimalism. The result was music that was fun, punchy, and catchy. The grinding guitars and harmony vocals were the backdrop for songs about juvenile delinquency, love, horror movies, and sniffing glue. The reaction was almost immediate. Before long, punk bands were coming together in the United States, England, and beyond.

The list of debut albums that dropped in 1977 illustrates the band’s impact. The Damned released their debut in February, the Clash followed in April, and the Sex Pistols released theirs in November.

A long line of musicians across other genres cite the Ramones as an influence. Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses), Kirk Hammet (Metallica), Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), and Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) are among those artists.

Working-Class Spirit

The Ramones’ debut album is proof that punk rock has always been working-class music. At the time, bands were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and months to record albums. At the same time, the genre was populated by virtuoso musicians. While many of those bands started at the same level as the punk rock pioneers, their output carried the air of privilege and prestige.

The band recorded their debut in just over two weeks for only $6,400. The quick and inexpensive production, coupled with the band’s raw sound, gave a generation of would-be musicians permission to take up their instruments and make music.

The band proved that you didn’t need to be able to play like Eric Clapton or be able to afford Phil Spector’s studio fees to make great music. This had nearly as much of an impact on the music world as the songs they recorded.

The album begins with the famous chant “Hey! Ho! Let’s go!” Later, Joey reflected on its meaning. He called it “the battle cry for punks to do their own thing.” Fifty years later, people are still answering the call.

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